The South African Child Gauge® is an annual publication of the Children’s Institute, University of Cape Town. It provides a snap-shot of the status of children in South Africa, and in particular monitors progress towards the realisation of their rights. Each year the publication focuses on a major challenge affecting children’s well-being as a lens to critically analyse the position of children and the potential policy responses required. In an extension of this focus, the Children’s Institute collaborated with the PII to produce a youth-focused edition in 2015.
This publication highlights the precarious situation of children as they transition into young adulthood and the need for interventions that aim to support youth development. The focus on the youth stage (15 to 24-year-olds) is informed by a life-course understanding of development. While South Africa now places significant emphasis on early childhood development, little evidence-based support continues for children as move through adolescence and into young adulthood. The 2015 youth-focused Child Gauge aimed to provide an overview of the status of these older children and youth, and to allow for the identification of evidence-based programmes for youth that are aimed to break the intergenerational transmission of poverty.
As a key communication and advocacy tool, the publication makes academic research accessible to a wider audience. It provides evidence to educate and raise awareness of critical issues affecting the country’s youth towards ensuring that government policies, programmes and services promote the realisation of their rights, and the rights of the next cohort of children.